SDA Compendium
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I like to know what I'm talking about before opening my mouth.
Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
I got my Compendium this week. Thanks, DK. Lots of interesting stuff, especially if you are a tech-head and like modifying your gear (I trust Mr. Polk to have built them the way he saw fit; they sound awesome to me). What is still not answered by the book is the differences in SOUND between the various models of the SDA line, and progressive model years. I have SDA 2As, the "third generation" and they sound great. But most of the SDA line have many more drivers and many varied configurations. Nowhere have I seen a explanation or description of the aural differences. I assume that the SDA 2A was 1) a refinement from the previous model years, 2) has some sort of audible improvements, and 3) was probably built for a smaller room space than many of the other larger models. I know many of you have multiple SDA speakers. Any insights for me?
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A detailed and accurate taxonomy classifying the differences in SDA performance from speaker to speaker and from generation to generation would be difficult, if not impossible, to produce because the quality of sound (both in resolution and soundstage properties) produced by SDA's varies widely depending on the room they are used in and the associated equipment and source material used. For example, if the SDA 1C is said to have 15% more resolution than the SDA 1B, that 15% increase might not be realized with some equipment. A general idea of sonic improvements from generation to generation can be gained by reading reviews, both from the professional audio press and here on the forum.
Generally, as you go up in generations, better cabinets, better drivers and improved crossover circuits are used. This generally translates to more resolving power, cleaner, more accurate bass reproduction and better soundstage stability.
I came to the SDA world in 1985 (Gen 2) and have heard every model produced since then. I have not heard the Gen 1 SDA 1 and SDA 2. I have found the improvements from generation to generation to be quite noticeable. I do not perceive a "night and day" difference between any two successive generations, but I would certainly classify the differences between Gen 2 and Gen 5 as night and day. The modifications I did to my SDA 1B's (Gen 3) certainly took them to another level. However, my stock SDA 1C's (Gen 4), because of the improved cabinet construction, improved crossover, and better drivers, sounded better in many respects than the modified SDA 1B's.Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country! -
The Dec 1986 Stereo Review review of the then-new SDA 2A was glowing, and he mentioned that he heard little difference between various SDA models. That is the closest I have come to a written comparison among models. With the SDA 2A being a smaller configuration with fewer drivers, I just thought someone might have some insights. I was listening again just now, and they sound just great; I'm done shopping for a while.
